Taming Time
It seems like this year vanished in a puff of smoke. It disappeared before it appeared. It was swallowed in a series of impossible happenings that didn’t happen. At least that is the way that I perceive it to have happened. “2006 – the Vanishing Year” seems the best way to describe what happened to me. How about you?
With only a few days left in this vanishing year I am looking for some way to enter 2007 slowly and savor the days “s-l-o-w-l-y”.
While reading the other day I came across some very good words from one of my favorite writers and teachers. His name is John Maxwell. This time he was writing about “Taming Time” (the title of this entry today).
Here is what John Maxwell shares about time.
Quote..
“Time is precious. Ask the coach whose team is behind in the final seconds of a game. Ask the air traffic controller in charge of scheduling takeoffs and landings at a major airport. Ask the news reporter who has just received a breaking story from the AP wire. Ask the cancer patient who has recently learned they have only two months left to live.”
“Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have. Our days are identical suitcases—all the same size—but some can pack more into them than others. No one has a magical ability to make time, but if our lives have direction, we can make the most of the moments we have been given.”
“Time is more valuable than money, because time is irreplaceable. “You don’t really pay for things with money,” says author Charles Spezzano in What to Do between Birth and Death. “You pay for them with time.” We exchange our time for dollars when we go to work and then trade our dollars for everything we purchase and accumulate. In essence, all we possess can be traced back to an investment of time. Time stewardship is perhaps a leader’s greatest responsibility. In the words of Peter Drucker, “Nothing else distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time.” – end quote….
His quote of Charles Spezzano caught my attention and has had hold on it for a few days now… “You don’t really pay for things with money. You pay for them with time.”
The idea that I have given an employer all of my time in exchange for dollars – which I then use to “buy stuff” comes home more at Christmas time and the end of the year. It was said the other day that the average citizen of Canada will buy $1200 dollars worth of gifts for people this year. That is every citizen of our country will spend that much on someone(s).
That being said you can see that at $6.00 an hour – the person will need to work 200 hours – 5 weeks to pay for the stuff. Now if you making $10.00/hour it is only 120 hours – 3 weeks.
An average working person takes about 3 weeks holidays per year. In order to pay for Christmas they need to give up their holidays and keep working to pay for it all.
This is about Taming Time not spending Christmas dollars but this illustration drives home the thought even further.
John Maxwell suggests the following key points… People who use time correctly are…
1. Purposeful
2. Committed to Values
3. Attuned to Strengths
4. Choosers of Happiness
5. Equippers
My Christmas gift this year to my wife is to act on these ideas. My gift to my kids will be to show these qualities in a better way. I hope more than anything that my grandkids will see that grandpa is real in these areas and then catch a little of what he has.
How about you? What are you doing with your time?
~ Pastor Murray ~
PS – For the whole article from John Maxwell click here…
With only a few days left in this vanishing year I am looking for some way to enter 2007 slowly and savor the days “s-l-o-w-l-y”.
While reading the other day I came across some very good words from one of my favorite writers and teachers. His name is John Maxwell. This time he was writing about “Taming Time” (the title of this entry today).
Here is what John Maxwell shares about time.
Quote..
“Time is precious. Ask the coach whose team is behind in the final seconds of a game. Ask the air traffic controller in charge of scheduling takeoffs and landings at a major airport. Ask the news reporter who has just received a breaking story from the AP wire. Ask the cancer patient who has recently learned they have only two months left to live.”
“Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have. Our days are identical suitcases—all the same size—but some can pack more into them than others. No one has a magical ability to make time, but if our lives have direction, we can make the most of the moments we have been given.”
“Time is more valuable than money, because time is irreplaceable. “You don’t really pay for things with money,” says author Charles Spezzano in What to Do between Birth and Death. “You pay for them with time.” We exchange our time for dollars when we go to work and then trade our dollars for everything we purchase and accumulate. In essence, all we possess can be traced back to an investment of time. Time stewardship is perhaps a leader’s greatest responsibility. In the words of Peter Drucker, “Nothing else distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time.” – end quote….
His quote of Charles Spezzano caught my attention and has had hold on it for a few days now… “You don’t really pay for things with money. You pay for them with time.”
The idea that I have given an employer all of my time in exchange for dollars – which I then use to “buy stuff” comes home more at Christmas time and the end of the year. It was said the other day that the average citizen of Canada will buy $1200 dollars worth of gifts for people this year. That is every citizen of our country will spend that much on someone(s).
That being said you can see that at $6.00 an hour – the person will need to work 200 hours – 5 weeks to pay for the stuff. Now if you making $10.00/hour it is only 120 hours – 3 weeks.
An average working person takes about 3 weeks holidays per year. In order to pay for Christmas they need to give up their holidays and keep working to pay for it all.
This is about Taming Time not spending Christmas dollars but this illustration drives home the thought even further.
John Maxwell suggests the following key points… People who use time correctly are…
1. Purposeful
2. Committed to Values
3. Attuned to Strengths
4. Choosers of Happiness
5. Equippers
My Christmas gift this year to my wife is to act on these ideas. My gift to my kids will be to show these qualities in a better way. I hope more than anything that my grandkids will see that grandpa is real in these areas and then catch a little of what he has.
How about you? What are you doing with your time?
~ Pastor Murray ~
PS – For the whole article from John Maxwell click here…
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Sunday, December 03, 2006
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